The Lost Girls
by Gloria Patri
Summary: A book of shorts featuring various OCs who've all been thrown into Naruto. Some are just ecstatic about being there, and some are... Well, not. May feature characters such as Sasuke, Kakashi, etc.
1. May Lin

**This is my first time writing something like this. Totally unrelated to canon characters and such. And it's also some way of relating a few fanfictions starring characters from the 'real world' in one collection of stories.**

**Rated T for death/suicide and massive swearing.**

**Naruto belongs, obviously, to Masashi Kishimoto.  
May-Lin, Hitaru, Fye, Yuuko and Naiyomi belong to me, thank you. C:**

* * *

The rain fell down in a deaf patter

The rain fell down in a deaf patter. No one seemed to pay much attention to the cold, nearly freezing, droplets of water falling down. One girl, though, hadn't dared bring out an umbrella. She stood out amongst the see of paper and synthetic materials, drenched from head to toe. No, she hadn't bothered staying dry. After all, water never hurt anyone, right? Wasn't like it made you melt. Not like that stupid movie she used to watch when she was younger. What was it called already..? The Wizard of.. Something or another. She didn't really care enough to remember. It only hurt a little more every time.

The girl, annoyed of the crowd heading home for the afternoon, had decided to seek refuge atop the building where she lived. There were fences all around, to prevent idiots from committing suicide—not that a stupid fence would stop anyone determined to die, right? She jumped up and sat on the farther right corner, in front of the still opened door that lead to the roof. The landlord was probably bound to pop up sooner or later, raging on about how long it was to clean up after her wet mess in the halls.

Pah.  
She didn't care.

"Os iusiti..." she started humming lightly, staring at the distant cliff, in which was carved several faces. Some bearing harsh traits, intimidating those who'd done something wrong. Other seemed serene, encouraging children to do their best. But it's not like any of those faces were meant to say anything to her. Not like anything THERE, then, was meant to involve her.

_I have a meeting today..._ she thought vaguely, trying to remember where it was she was supposed to meet the others. Yes, they often talked about how they got there, what they were doing with their lives, and how they planned to live, or even go back home.

Home.

It was such a benign word to her, nowadays. It was like nothing was home anymore. Where she used to live, well, it was just a distant memory, almost a dream. It's not like she could remember faces, voices, sounds or places. It had been too long. But where she was, it would never be home. It wasn't her dream, it was her sister's. She had never so much as wished she could be there.

And yet, there she was, living so many girls' dreams, and she was hating it more than she had ever hated anything in her life.

"May-Lin, you better have a good excuse this time!!" the old landlord called, making the girl—now May-Lin—sigh heavily. She knew it, the old woman always had it out for her, even though she was sympathetic with her.

"I was outside without an umbrella when it started raining." She said quietly, her hushed voice not fitting with her rugged, rebellious air. She didn't give any further explanation, nor did she give an apology to the elder woman. She simply jumped off the railing and heading back inside, not really hearing the landlord's numerous and loud complaints.

Living in Konoha was hell for May-Lin. She had never like the series, Naruto, and she'd hated pretty much every character aside from Sasuke. She could actually relate to him. She hated him originally, calling him a stupid emo child. But now that she knew what it was, losing your entire family and being left alone... She felt sympathy for him. She felt like she had some sort of connection, even though it was vague, VERY vague, and perfectly one-sided.

"And just where do you think YOU'RE going, young miss?"

May-Lin turned and smiled in the lounge; she had to pass through there to go outside. Ame always was one of the womanizers, even though he was married. She was always happy, even though she knew something was always on his mind. He was a shinobi, one of the best(or so he said), and often had days off seeing as he was in the AnBU.

"Just going out to see some friends, is all, Ame-san." She replied curtly, sticking out her tongue, just a little bit. "I wouldn't mind having an umbrella this time, though. Can I borrow one?" She asked quietly, putting her and together in front of her and blinking a few times.

The elder man gladly accepted the request and handed the girl a black and red umbrella, with which she headed out with in the rain. She would've gone outside without one, but she figured that the girls would be asking her why she was soaking wet. They probably still would, because she figured she'd never have enough time to dry out before she got to wherever it was she was going.

Her feet were directing her in some forgotten direction; it was a day to day struggle to remember thing for May-Lin. She was told by the Hokage, Tsunade, that it was perfectly normal. Her body was still under some shock, ever after two months, and that it would take time for her to get adjusted, and remember everything she was before.

"I remember that day..." May whispered under the heavily pouring rain, staring down at her feet. The streets had emptied faster than usual; maybe it was because of the rain? She found herself weaving through the streets without running into the usual upset wife or drunken husband.

Yes, that day had been strange. She'd woken up in the middle of a street, people looking down at her, glaring, as though she was nothing more than a murdering beggar. That day, it was a sunny day, and she could feel herself burning up. She was on the side of a building, but still exposed to the sun. All dressed in black, she felt like a potato in an oven. She'd gotten up and looked around, clueless, lost. She'd just done what anyone else would've done: headed for the biggest building around. She figured someone there might help her.  
The minute she'd walked in, people started dragging her one way and another, without so much as telling her what happened. She thought everyone looked so strange, all... Asians. And she was sure she'd recognised something. Some... Some metal plate on someone's head. But everything was so vague; could she even remember her name?

"Bring in Hitaru."  
That's what Tsunade had said when she saw her.  
May really couldn't tell who this Hitaru was, though she had very clearly remembered why she thought everything was familiar; she was in Konoha. NarutoLand. Ninja World. Her little sister's dream world.

Then Hitaru came in.

Beautiful woman, really; flaming red hair, thin waist, flawless complexion, hard and beautiful teal eyes. Another girl was with her, with... With purple hair. She was called Yuuko—May-Lin wasn't too sure about the name, she was a little too busy trying to wake herself up. Hitaru smiled, just like a mother, and guided her outside.  
They shopped for clothes, and May was escorted to her new apartment. She was told to stay there until further notice, that someone would come by and tell her what to do.

It was the worst day of May-Lin's life.  
But, then again, that was the day she'd met the girls.

"Lin-chan! I thought you'd NEVER make it!"

May-Lin carefully closed the black and red umbrella and set it beside the door, still unsure how she ever got to the same place every afternoon or night. Sure, she recognised everything, knew where she was, who she was meeting, who was talking to her and who she was talking to...  
Just, not how she got to all that.

"Don't worry Naiyo, I wouldn't miss out on our nights together." May-Lin said, offering the younger girl a small, delicate smile. Naiyomi was only fourteen years old, whereas May was already seventeen, and turning eighteen... Well, soon, she figured. She couldn't believe, though, that Naiyo was so enthusiastic about everything. Torn away from her family and thrown into Konoha. Apparently, she was near Thunder; May remembered that the Akatsuki were there. She didn't really want to think what a bunch of assassins would've done to such an innocent girl...

"I'm glad you made it, May-Lin." Hitaru greeted, and May only raised her head, letting her smile fade, little by little. She figured it was useless keeping charades with the woman. After all, it was like she could read her like an open book. Hiding things was pretty pointless. "...without being too careless, this time." She added in a light chuckle.

May-Lin often showed up exhausted, stained here and there, after falling in the streets, or walking in the rain without an umbrella, or walking in the snow without wearing a coat. She always got sick, but never really cared. She didn't do much of her life anyways, so staying inside was almost better than what she usually did. Which was, really, nothing.

The evening went on quietly, as May-Lin stood by as the other girls talked about their daily lives. One of the girl, Mariana, was squealing on about how she accidentally bumped into Naruto on her way there, and how he offered to take her out for a bowl of ramen. She kept on gushing on about how nice and polite he was...

"What about you, May-Lin?"

She had lost track of time, and hadn't been listening to much of anything that was being said. Busy fiddling with the rugged hem of her shirt, May had been, once again, lost in her empty thoughts, waiting for time to go by, for her life to just find a meaning again.  
Or for God to take her back home.

"Uh... Me?" She asked incredulously, blinking sleepily a few times. "I've been... Thinking a lot lately." She said effortlessly, already used to speaking her mind in front of them all. "I can't remember my parents' faces, or their voices. I can't remember where I used to live or how I used to be before I came here. From day to day, it's pretty much a struggle to get up in the morning, knowing that I won't do anything meaningful, and knowing that I'm never going home."

The once bustling room fell to a dull silence, thick with anxiety and uneasiness. May-Lin whispered an apology and got up, heading for the door of the small room, hidden amongst the Hotel's various conference rooms. Right, it was a run-down hotel...

"May-Lin, wait..." Yuuko called out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

"WAIT. For what? For an opportunity to go home, huh? Wait until I die to be able to remember what my fucking boyfriend looked like, huh?! I'm sorry, but I'd rather fucking die by my own hands consciously than rot in a motherfucking hell hole waiting to go to a home I can't even call home anymore!"

She ran out the door, crying tears of frustration, lost amidst the rain, a little lighter than when she'd first gotten to the old hotel. It was only early evening, and she was hungry as hell. Frustrated. Angry at the world. Hating Tsunade. Hitaru. Hating the world, in general. She was being a stupid emo child, and she was resenting herself for it.  
But she wasn't really caring then. She just wanted to die of a heart attack while jumping off that cliff she always stared at, while she stared at her butchered wrists. She would jump off the edge, like she's heard in so many songs.

The clouds were clearing, slowly but surely. A rainbow shone in the distance, but May-Lin didn't take notice of it. She was running faster than she'd ever thought she was able to run. She didn't even think she would last that long without stopping and coughing a good hundred times. The carved faces were staring down at her after ten minutes. She glared, glared at them all, one after the other.

"I HATE YOU!" she shrieked, heading for the stone staircase that lead to the top. The mask encrusted into the cliff, right beside the stairs, caught her eye. A fox mask, broken, shoved into the rock. She felt oddly attracted to it, compelled to call out to it and tell it she understood.

She skipped so many steps, and yet, the top never seemed to get any closer. She could hear them call her name. They hadn't yet realised where she was, and May-Lin was hoping it would stay that way until she was long gone. She stopped about three quarters up, tired, spent, coughing and hyperventilating. May cursed the days of rest she could've spent running or training, like anyone else would've done.

After what seemed like an eternity of anxiety and waiting, May forced herself back up on her unsteady legs and ran up the remainder of the carved steps, sighing in utter relief as she finally slammed her hand onto one of the many wooden pikes that composed the railing around the top of the cliff.  
She steadied herself at the edge.

"That's it. I can't take it." She whispered, letting a lethal tear fall down, past her chin, onto the rock below. A song ran by her head; one of the few things she could remember from before. "I scream into the night for you, don't make it true... Don't jump..."

She sobbed. More than once or twice. That song brought back the time in the car when her mother would yell at her father, when her boyfriend was beaten by those thugs, when her brother had protected her from that rapist—

She remembered.  
Though, it really was too late.

Her heart was beating faster with ever inch lost in altitude. She was praying for someone to catch her, for someone to guide her though everything. Why hadn't she thought about it before...?

There was a deafening scream; as though someone was pulling on a ton of bricks with all their might. May-Lin chocked on air as something hard hit her left side, and coughed once the feeling of weightlessness was completely lost. She cried so hard...

She woke up in the hospital, staring blankly at the ceiling. The lights were making her eyes burn; she didn't care to hide her tears anymore. It wasn't really worth it. As she unconsciously proved the IV needle stuck into her right wrist, May-Lin noticed someone was sitting at the edge of her bed. A woman with jet black hair and coal eyes, completely dressed in black, scars running up and down her arms, and one up her neck, was staring down at her. Her eyes seemed so empty; May thought about what her own hazel eyes must've looked like, pooling in tears.

"Her name's Fye." Hitaru spoke up, finally making her presence known. "She's the one who almost died saving you."

May-Lin could clearly make out the bandages under the woman's fishnet shirt, running down half of her right arm. Though she hadn't even thought, for one second, that she might've caused it. She whispered an apology, closing her eyes once more.

"You had a heart attack, dear..." Hitaru added quietly, staring down at May with saddened eyes. "A heart attack, a concussion, water on your lungs, two broken ribs and light internal bleeding." The older woman added, crossing her arms, but not in an intimidating way.

May-Lin vaguely nodded, after noting that speaking was fairly out of the question. The tangy taste of blood was still as clear as black letter on white paper in her mouth, the irony taste almost pleasant.

"They bandaged your wrists." Fye finally spoke up after a long moment of silence had slipped in the room. May-Lin carefully rose her left arm to stare blearily at the white fabric wrapped around her arm. She nodded vaguely, resting her head on the pillow.

"You're going to stay here for a while. Yuuko's going to..."

Hitaru's voice slowly slipped into nothingness as May-Lin lost consciousness yet again, slipping into a slumber filled with images of her smiling brother and sister, of her parents getting along, of her school and friends, of the Lost Girls, of the women she'd met...

"She's gone, isn't she, Hitaru?" Fye asked quietly, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"We can't save everyone. But we can try."

On that, Hitaru walked out of the room as nurses filtered in, notified earlier that May-Lin would go through heart failure. The dull hum of worries, orders of resuscitation falling upon her deaf ears. No, they couldn't save everyone. They only tried.

But losing someone who's already Lost is just horrible.


	2. Erinne

**Usual disclaimer and whatnot. Masashi kishimoto and my OCs ftw.**

**Erinne's name was given by a friend of mine.  
Beginning tomorrow, there'll be a weekly comic for the Lost Girls. C: Ask me to see it, or go on DevArt/Sheezy Art and look for me.**

**Enjoy this light romance!**

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"Haaaa, what a beautiful day today!"

It was raining though, like the day before. She wasn't really bent on being pessimistic, because it really wouldn't do anything to lighten the mood that had been looming above everyone for a while. What with May-Lin's death the day before, and Fye's injuries, and Hitaru's recent depression... She had to keep her morale up, right? She was the glue that held everyone together, that kept everyone sane. Her, and Naiyomi, of course. That fourteen year old was just one big bundle of smiles and sunshine, even with May-Lin dead. She really did like the deceased girl. Lots and lots. Just like an older sister. So seeing her so happy was, to say the least, strange, and quiet annoyingly so. Everyone was worried, after all, that she'd attempt the same thing as the late Lost Girl.

Oh, but Arinne really just COULDN'T start thinking about all that! It would eventually get her down, too, and that's really the last thing the Girls needed right then. They needed someone flashy and colorful and perky. Just like her. And she wasn't going to let them down in their biggest time of need. Though Erinne had to admit, she was feeling for Hitaru. She'd been like a mother to each and every one of them, from the moment they had miraculously arrived in Konoha(miraculously being a big word for most of them). She'd guided them and treated them all like real daughters, choosing no favorites, guiding them through the rougher times, just like she was happy for them when they had something nice in their newfound lives. Erinne didn'r even dare try to think what it must've been like for her to learn that May would die; it must've been really...

"Ayaaaaah, I have to stop thinking!" Eri laughed, in the middle of the streets, heading down the the old hotel. It wasn't that late in the day, but she had been told to take a day off, so she thought she'd clean up a bit at the usual spot.

See, Erinne was one of the Girls who'd made a new life in Konnoha, and had tried her best to perform like any other normal woman. Which meant blending in, conforming herself to certain rules and ways of life. She had recently been hired at a small bakery, and she just loved it. Back home(she, unlike certain, rmemberd everything about her 'previous life'), she used to bake cakes and cookies all the time. For her little brother, mostly, but also for bake sales and the like, for school. For birthdays and anniversaries and pretty much just anytime she could find a decent excuse.  
Hitaru, upon hearing about the teen's love for pastries and the sort, had immediately contacted a friend of hers, Kuchiko, and asked her if she needed any help around. Of course, the younger woman didn't refuse any extra hands, and Erinne was hired the very same day, barely three weeks ago. Needless to say she fell in love with the enormous kitchen and clientele. She really was in her element; she just hoped that May-Lin had been able to find such a thing to keep her going...

"Eh, eri-san? You're pretty early today." Yuuko peeped, her head barely poking past the entryway to their usual common room. She spent most of her days in the common room just keeping everything in shape. She didn't have much else to do on her spare days. Yuuko was a kunoichi, lower than Fye and Hitaru(who were both in the AnBU), and between missions, she'd just... Hang out. Lounge around. Maintain.

"Eh, yeah, I had a day off, so I figured I'm make a cake or something, y'know?" Erinne started, heading towards the small room that served as both a kitchen and a dining room. "Keep the Girls' spirits a little high and all that." she added distraughtly, reaching up for the small bag of flour. She frowned; only her fingers seemed to brush the very tip of the half-full bag(stay positive!). Grunting, she jumped a little bit, and managed to grab the bag.

Though of course, it toppled over.

And just as she was about to yelp and swallow twice her weight in flour, a hand lunged right in front of her, which really only made the por baker girl squeal and back off, trip, and ultimately fall down. Groaning, Erinne pushed herself back up, finding that another hand was helping her up. It took her a while before realising just who it was, exactly, that had been so kind as to save her from suffocating in the flour of an unmade cake(that would surely never be baked, seeing as the leftover flour was all over the place on the counter...).

"Ah... Thanks, Neji-sama." Erinne muttered, blnking a few times, still having trouble figuring out when the heck he had even made it there in the first place. She hadn't heard him, or Yuuko talking to him for that matter... But then again, he WAS a ninja, and he WAS pretty ahead of the others his age. Understandable, she figured.

There didn't seem to be any audible answer from the elder shinobi aside from a vague nod. Neji stepped out of what had been made into a kitchen, leaving Erinne to her little circular thoughts. He was a strange one; always popping up just when she's about to commit involuntary suicide, or something to that effect. She'd talked to Naruto at times, scarcely, and even to Sakura(she was a girl friend, someone she found she could confide small thing to), but aside from them, she hadn't really had any particular link to shinobi at all. And calling Neji, NEJI, a LINK... Was really pushing it.  
But hey, a shinobi is a shinobi.

Erinne continued her little escapade through the makeshift kitchen; her cake was, with all that flour now useless, obviously out of the question. She would always TRY to make cookies... Or even pudding. She was pretty sure she could make butterscotch squares with the graham cookies she'd bought a few days ago. Yeah, she would do that. It'd make the other girls a little happier, what with recent events. Maybe she'd even stick a few candles in it. It was Hitaru and Kakashi-san's anniversary, wasn't it? It was a year.. Though Erinne wasn't too sure. To she decided she'd stick two candles; one for each of them.

"Eri!" Yuuko called, slowly skipping into the kitchen with a broad smile on her face. Like usual. "White Eyes left a leter for you. Looking stoic as ever. Wonder if it's a LOOOOOOOOVE letter?" she crooned, and the aforementioned girl flushed a beautiful shade of crimson.

"I-I'm sure it's nothing like that. Neji-sama really has... Beter things to d-do." Erinne stuttered, swapping the letter out of the elder woman's hands and stuffing it, now crumpled, in her back pocket. "No just help me with this, alright?" She demanded, laughing a little at the overly-serious tone she'd adopted. It had even surprised Yuuko, it seems, because she just stared.

The two girls VERY slowly prepared the dessert, making sure every now and then that the kunoichi didn't just pop up earlier than the usual. It would spoil the surprise. Halfway through, though, Erinne sent Yuuko to fetch Kakashi; Yuuko found a brilliant excuse, saying that Hitaru would need him to move around the larger pieces of furniture because Fye's extra hands were sadly absent. He curtly replied that Fye wasn't out of the village and had been dismissed earlier that morning. Yuuko blinked and stated that she was just plain busy with Akira, her... Fianc? Husband? Those two really were elusive.  
After twenty minutes of hearing the purple haired girl's rambling, the jounin reluctantly followed the hyperactive woman towards the old hotel.

Upon arriving at the old hotel, Yuuko left Kakashi in Erinne's hand. Instantly, the poor girl frantically searched for some crackpot excuse to have him help her.

"B-besides, Hitaru isn't here yet. You, uh, might as well just help me around the kitchen, Hatake-San!"

And of course, Kakashi was forced to clean up everything and do the dishes as soon as Erinne was done with some bowl, plate or utensil. Of course, the jounin knew that SOMETHING was going on; Erinne didn't usually stutter around him. No, actually, she very regularly blew him off, and very rarely used any suffixe. Much left use his last name at all. But he played along, as nice and opened minded as he was--good joke, huh?!--and Eri was VERY grateful for that. It would only make her job all the more harder...

"AH! HITARUUUUUU, HOW NICE TO SEEEEEE YOUUUUUU!"

Erinne laughed, nearly falling on the floor; Yuuko really was the last person on earth to be able to keep something a secret. Even if she tried REALLY really hard. Her discretion just wasn't anything to envy, at all. And of course, by then, most of the girls had arrived. Yuuko, with her legendary powers of keeping secrets forever, had explicitly said that 'Whoever goes in the motherfucking kitchen fucking dies, bitches!' It actually wasn't as funny as it sounds; Yuuko, with a butcher's knife and a lot of curses, isn't a pretty sight.

"HAPPY ANNIVERSARYYYYY!!" Erinne cried, entering the common room with an obnoxiously large plate of delicious looking dessert--butterscotch square--and was greeted with a few snickers and a broad smile. The two candles, for one, were already halfway melted. Eri had had some trouble keeping them lit after sighing so much, happy to be 'done'.

"Erinne, it's only--"

"EVERYONE DIG IT ARFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!" Yuuko cried, literally throwing herself face first into the plate of dessert Erinne had already spent three hours on.

There was a light squeak and a blood curling shriek, and one very pissed baker.

"YOU FUCKING RETARD!" Erinne yelled, stomping into the bathroom and conveniently locking the door behind herself. Sure, she figured that Hitaru or Kakashi would intervene if they thought it necessary. But both knew that having a little time alone, when upset, frustrated or rabidly angry at the most stupid woman on earth, wasn't exactly a bad thing.

Erinne sniffled once or twice, cursing herself for getting so caught up for something so little; she was even crying, for the love of God! She really wasn't cut out to be a kunoichi. Ever. Which brought her to thinking about the letter that Neji had left in Yuuko's care, and which he had haphazardly stuffed in her back pocket. She extracted the folded, nearly torn, neatly folded letter and pried it open carefully. She was surprised to find such beautiful cursive letters, though, at the same time, she hadn't expected any less from a Hyuuga. Hinata, she figured, probably wrote a little more like a guy than her cousin did..!

_'Dear Erinne,_

_I'm sorry to have troubled you this afternoon. There are many ways to have aoided such a loss of flour. I do not know what you had wanted to do, but I am certain that my interfering must not have been of the most convenient.  
There is another bag of flour where the pervious one was. Do not thank me; I am merely repaying you for my own foolishness._

_If you wish to, however, thank me in some way, you should find me near the Fourth Hokage's portrait, atop the cliff._

_Sincere apologies,_

_Hyuuga Neji'_

Erinne blinked several times, tears just drying up as fast as marks dissapear of a beach in the rising tide. He had been so eloquent, and had really put too much just to apologise for something that was, in the beginning, her fault, and hers only. And... And was that a date he'd just set up? 'Near the Fourth Hokage'... Yeah, that definately sounded like a date.

And Erinne just laughed at the footnotes Yuuko had left(since no one else had read the letter, eri automatically figured she was the one who'd written).

'OMG WTF. TELL ME ALL THAT HAPPENED TONIGHT. GET OUT BY THE WINDOW NOW BETCH, LOVES YOU'

"That fucktarded spaz." Erinne laughed, and proceeded to do as the footnotes suggested; she jumped out the reason, and thanked the fact that it wasn't too high off the ground. A twisted ankle really wuldn't help her get up on that darned cliff.

She ran like the wind; she really wouldn't afford to miss out on meeting with the Hyuuga, THE NEJI HYUUGA, even if it was only her delusioned mind that said it was a date which probably didn't even exist. It, really, took her less time than she had thought it would, to get on the top of the monstrous natural monument. And, as she had been told, Neji stood over the Fourth's reproducted features.

"I... I wanted to thank you?" she breathed, bending over her knees to catch her breath. Unlike the late May-Lin, Eri had a pretty good past when it came to races, running, jumping inhuman height and the like. It didn't take much time for her to just fall over, forward, but never meeting the ground. She hadn't expected to, either. After all, she was in front of a shinobi, what did she expect?

"S-sorry."

"You don't usually stutter..."

Erinne gasped lightly; it was probably the most she'd ever heard Neji say in her life before, aside from the fight she'd seen at the Chuunin exams, years prior. The time when he'd rambled on and on about DESTINY with Naruto... That had just been plain annoying, not surprising or delicately enticing.  
ENTICING?

"It's... It's hard not to when you're out of brea--"

She was cut off be a quick peck on the nose; NEJI HYUUGA, demonstrating AFFECTION in public? Well, Erinne thought about it, and PUBLIC was a very big word, seeing as the sun had began to set, and there really wasn't anyone else around to hear them, much less SEE them, and tell anyone else about it.

"I would appreciate it if you would meet me here tomorrow."

And Erinne agreed, and returned to the hotel as joyous as ever.

If the day before had brought her to tears time and time again, that day and known to bring up her spirits more than anything would ever have been able to.

"And now, to face Yuuko..."


	3. Aerynn

**Usual disclaimer and whatnot; Kakashi, Gaara and Konoha belong to Masashi Kishimoto  
Aerynn belongs to me. As well as Hitaru, Yuuko, Naiyomi, May-Lin and Yasuo.**

**Might contain some 'mature content' : mentions Aerynn's homosexual attraction towards certain characters.**

**Please enjoy this third installement!**

* * *

"Bloody hell... I hate you, nail. I really do."

The day was bright, the sun was shining at its fullest. Albeit a little strange, with the fog at the horizon, slightly blurry the bright star in the sky, it was going to be a beautiful day. Though the curses, spoken with a thick British accent, were slightly marring the exquisite simplicity of it all. Of course, the silly girl had to go and nail the remaining wooden panels over the already condemned windows of the old hotel.

"Aerii-chan! Swearing isn't good for your health!" Naiyomi chirped, happily bouncing outside the sliding doors of the old hotel, prancing over to the elder girl.

"Shut up, you twerp. I'll curse this damned nail to hell and back if I damn want to." She spat, glaring daggers at the ground, where the curved nail lay, motionless, and potentially harmless. "The damn bloody thing moved just as I was about to hit it! I damn swear it did!"

"You.re such a spazz, Aerynn." Nai giggled, bidding good bye to the girl and running off home, away from the setting sun. She lived with a foster family, see.

"Spaz. I'll show her who's a fucking spaz..." Aerynn shrugged, throwing her hammer at the other end of the wall, glaring at it in turn, and stalking back inside the hotel who's windows she was trying to path up(again).

"Hammer hit your finger again?" Yuuko asked vaguely, focusing on the magazing she was reading. It really wasn't anything interesting, per se; she was just buying those things for the quizzes. Those were fun. Inaccurate, but amusingly so.

"Shut the fuck up." The other snapped, heading for the bathroom, where she'd carefully bandaged her injured thumb and applied a little antibiotic. It really wasn't an open wound, but she figured--through her string of curses--that she'd better be safe than sorry. Which brought up the matter of WHY she hadn't thought of that before trying to nail a plank of wood over several other.

"I'm such a dumbass." She sighed, effectively calming down.

Aerynn was one of the few girls who had landed elsewhere than Konoha. She had, effectively, wound up in Suna. But seeing as the Kazekage, Gaara, was, in no way, shape or form, prepared for such unsightly arrivals, she'd been shipped over to the Leaf village. They were obviously more competent in dealing with world-travelers than any other village would ever be.

But moreover, Aerynn was one of the VERY few who knew strictly nothing about Naruto and its many villages and conflicts, but who had yet made a reputation for themselves and had found a new life in that strange world. See, Aerynn was already well on her way to getting married, at her 23 years of age. She'd found a man with whom she fell madly in love with the minute she stepped through the gates.

"Going home to that lovely Yasuo of yours, Aerii?" Yuuko crooned, casting a devious glance at the elder woman before burying her nose back into her magazine.

"...That's a stupid question, you tard."

"Neeeee, You're so mean to me, Ae-chan..." Yuuko pouted, cutely, crossing her arms.

"Fuck you too, bitch."

"I LOVE YOU TOO!"

On that, Aerynn walked out the double sliding doors and headed straight ahead, into the alley that lead onto a bigger street, from which stemmed the one her house had been built on. Really was an advantage, seeing as she could come to the hotel in a fraction of the time it took the other girls. Though she still managed to arrive late at the weekly meetings. Go figure.

And so began her nightly routine. Two men--probably drunk, they really always were--popped up out of nowhere. Speaking Japanese, like the entire population she'd been warped into. She sighed, threw a "Bloody fucking morons." At them with her thick accent, and proceeded to knock the two out cold. Of course, she always dragged them back to the nearest bar, from which she assume they'd hailed. She then returned home to her loving boyfriend(not yet fiancé, he's far too slow for that), had supper, cuddled, and went to bed.

She admitted, sometimes, it was boring. But then again, her normality was what kept her sane, and what kept her from fangirling nearly every other sexy person in that damn village. Like, for instance, that famous Kakashi person. Oh, she'd seen him. MANY, many times. And it wasn't rare that she'd catch herself wanting to just... Rip that mask of and just... Do stuff to him.

"Anything wrong Rynn?"

The young woman blinked a few times, finding that she'd been staring straight ahead, at the wall, for what had now been five minutes. Aerynn had just been thinking; how would she have lived back home? If she could even call it home anymore... After five years of being in the same place, she figured that Konoha was more her home that her old one would ever be. She had a boyfriend, son-to-be-fiancé, a good job, and she'd most likely get pregnant that very night.

That was a beautiful thought.

"Eh? No, jus' thinking." She muttered, staring out the window, cuddling up a little closer to Yasuo, who, in turn, tightened his grip around her shoulders the slightest bit more.

"About May-Lin, or something else?" He asked cautiously, knowing that May-Lin was a very touchy subject.

After all, Aerynn HAD fallen for the girl, once upon a time.  
Not that he knew that, though.

Which brought her to thinking about the first time she ever saw the late teen. It was a cloudy day. Not rainy, or cold or warm or any of that. It was just a cloudy day, heading towards the old hotel. Hitaru had taken care of introducing the newly arrived Lost Girl to the rest of the group. Even back then, May-Lin had seemed awfully depressed to everyone. And to Aerynn in particular.

Oh, they'd shared their little top-secret little moments together, in the dark corners of the hotel, after everyone was gone. But it seems that those little moments weren't enough to hold her back. And to think that Aerynn had put her relationship with Yasuo on the line for someone who just wound up killing herself.

"...Both, I guess." She sighed, trying to clear her mind. Focus on the parts of her life she knew would happen. And of course, nothing came up; for all she knew, she could die right there in three seconds.

The day after was just as uneventful as the others. Aerynn went to work as angsty as she always was, flashed bright smiles at passers-by, swore whenever she hurt herself, and headed to the old run-down hotel she'd been going to for the past five years. Though when she entered the common room after slipping out of her shoes, Aerynn wasn't at all pleased with the sight that met her eyes.

Everyone was dressed in black--including Hitaru, who never wore anything but red--with dark, depressed looks on their faces. She didn't need to have a genius' brain to figure out what it was all about; they were heading to May-Lin's service, which the woman had blissfully forgotten about(or willingly put aside forever and ever).

At least she was already dressed in black by default because of her job.

"Already...?" She asked quietly, looking at the floor with narrowed eyes.

"Come on, Aerii. Let's go..." Naiyomi pleaded. Pulling lightly on the elder woman's sleeve. Aerynn nodded solemnly and followed the younger girl outside.

Aerynn didn't really make any effort to move, or pay attention to where she was going. She let herself be guided by Nai and that was it. She didn't want to have to see May-Lin's dead body, and she especially didn't want to have to say good bye. It was just too soon...

"Take a left, Nai." Yuuko ordered, somewhere behind the two in front. Aerynn followed somewhat unconsciously, following the younger teen's movement without a second thought. They could've been leading her to a boiling pit of lava for all she knew or cared.

The service was dull, and the voices around her were annoying. And there weren't many voices at all, which annoyed the woman even more. How could the rest of the world keep spinning when May-Lin just died?  
Her headache, which wasn't even present several seconds prior, was giving her the impression that her head was about to blow up in millions and millions of pieces. Somewhat like her heart.

She raised her eyes for the first time, and instantly regretted ever doing that.

She ran outside as fast as she could. It was a cloudy day. Not cold or warm or sunny or any of that. Just like the day she'd met her. Aerynn hadn't even ran for some twenty meters before she ran into someone. She flew back, running as fast as she was, and just lay there on the ground. She was sobbing more than she ever thought she was able to cry. She didn't move to get up; she just wanted to be left there to rot, to sink into the ground. She wanted Yasuo to bring her back to life, bring her May-Lin back to life...

"You should really get up, you know."

Aerynn's heart skipped a beat. She stopped sobbing for a second seconds, the time to push herself up on her knees, but just continued to cry. She hated herself for crying so much; she'd sworn never to cry after she'd come to Konoha.

She felt a single raindrop hit her cheek.

"Just leave me alone." She sniffled, finally finding the power to control her previously untamed sobs. "You've got a fucking life, go live it for the ones who died, fucktard."

A strong hand pulled Aerynn up on her feet. She stumbled forward and backwards a little bit, but still managed to hit the chest of whomever had dared touched her. The impact caused her to back up, giving her a much clearer view of who her 'assailant' was.

"Most people would say thank you instead of hitting." Kakashi muttered behind his mask, stuffing his hands back in his pockets and staring intently--with his only visible eye--at the woman in front of him.

"...Would you walk me home, please..?" Aerynn asked meekly, feeling the little drops of water on her skin as though they were needles searching through her for blood.

The shinobi narrowed his eye in confusing, but couldn't deny the woman's request. She was alone, in the rain, and obviously in no state of mind to wander the streets alone when darkness was minutes away. She walked slowly, and the jounin followed suit, always walking a step ahead of her. At a certain point, halfway home, she'd started shivering. Kakashi had been all but too kind, draping her shoulder with his vest. She tried to thank him, but he simply brushed it off.

"This is it." She said quietly, stopping in front of the small stone alleyway that lead to the door of her modest home. "Thank you... If there's anything I can do--" Aerynn started, but was interrupted--rather nicely, at that--by what she thought was a smile, and a raised finger.

"The only gift of gratitude I'll accept is another chance at seeing you." He said, very apparently too cheerful for the type of man she'd figured he was.

"Ah, but, my fiancé might..." she started, but trailed off, looking at Yasuo, who stood in the opened doorway. He was smiling, nearly smirking.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in any relationships. I thought you might need the company." Kakashi stated, and obviously took Aerynn off guard.

He thought SHE needed the company? Of course, she seemed a little lonely, and heartbroken, and obviously mourning the loss of someone very... close to her. Well yes, maybe she would appreciate the company of someone other than her beloved Yasuo, or the other Lost Girls. Maybe having a male friend would be interesting.

"...Do you have anything planned for tomorrow? I've got a feeling I'll be needing someone around..." she whispered quietly, feeling the already light rain lighten a little more.

"How about I come pick you up in the morning?" he asked with another eye smile, and Aerynn nodded, smiling.

After a few necessary things were exchanged, Aerynn almost ran inside to join Yasuo, who seemed more than happy to find out that Aerynn had found a way to make a 'friend'. Even if it was by some strange coincidence that had involved her cursing him from the beginning.

The next morning, Aerynn had woken up later than usual. She was quite appreciative of her employer for giving her the day off. At least she seemed to understand the need of a fellow woman to mourn a deceased loved one. It was half past noon when a knock sounded at the door; Aerynn, with her curly blonde hair held up high, rushed to the door.

"Sorry I'm late, I was busy walking on the..."

"Save the motherfucking excuse. Woke up late, just like you did, you fucktarded person." Aerynn stated somewhat sarcastically--yet with a rather large grin--and after sticking out her tongue, let the jounin inside while she slipped into something more appropriate for a day out.

All in all, Rynn had spent an enjoyable day accompanied by Kakashi. He made her visit the most apparent touristic attractions of the village, as well as the more secretive spots, where artists and poets would come to think and relax. She was also taken to the memorial stone, where MIA shinobi names were engraved in the stone. She was given a brief explanation as to why Kakashi had taken her there; several companions, as well as his sensei, had died during missions. He went there for relief, sometimes.

"The Fourth Hokage... He's the last one of that cliff, right?" Aerynn asked, pointing the last stoic face carved in rock.

Though, the instant she saw those faces, she cringed and shrank to her knees, trying to rid her mind of May-Lin. She felt an arm around her shoulders, and a soft breeze caressed her cheek. It was like time had frozen; she was there, crouching in front of a giant stone wrought with names of the dead, thinking about a girl she had been with while cheating on her soon-to-be-fiancé, because she threw herself off a cliff and died at the hospital after someone nearly died saving her.

She was mourning one of those selfish little emo children she hated so much.

Because somewhere, she was still in love...

Kakashi slowly eased her back up onto her feet and guided her some way or another. She found herself being sat down at a small terrace, the scents of coffee, tea and dumplings blending marvellously well with the scent of fresh citrus. Kakashi had seemingly ordered for her. The same thing he'd ordered for himself, and freely guessed that it must be something good.

After a little meal of Anko Dumplings with a little sake and warm tea on the side, Kakashi dragged Aerynn along to a small spot outside the gates of Konoha. It wasn't that far out, though; in the fields, just outside the village. At the distance, not too far away, was a tree that seemed to be half-burnt, and a rather large square of blackened grass. There were two stones, apparently old, eroded by years of rain, wind, hail and snow.

"Hitaru's parents passed away here when she was ten years old." He spoke suddenly, staring, somewhat with a nostalgic air, at the path or charred grass. "They were murdered while she was out, and she burned down the house by kicking a lantern while I was trying to get her out..."

"Why are you telling me all this? It's not like I..." Rynn started, but let herself trail off. She was going to say 'It's not like I care', but that would be the harshest lies she'd ever told. She cared for Hitaru deeply, like the sister she'd never had. But that didn't solve the mystery as to why Kakashi had brought her there in the first place, or why he seemed so opened. From what Hitaru had said, he was mostly a reserved man, hiding behind that mask of his.

"It's been sixteen years today, since they passed away..." he added, barely any louder than a whisper, looking back at Aerynn.

"That doesn't answer my fucking question." She insisted, crossing her arms in the cool afternoon wind. "You're not like this usually, I know that much. So why...?"

"It's okay to miss them, Aerynn."

And that was all she needed to hear.


	4. Miichie

**This is my fangirl obsession recently. Naruto. NARUTO Naruto, I mean. Not the show... xD;; Show's an obsession since forever**

**Disclaimers and stuff.  
Fye, Yuuko, Hitaru, Miichie and Erinne belong to me.  
The rest pretty much belongs to Masashi Kishimoto(sadly).**

**Enjoy this fluffy little chatper. C:**

The beeping was constant, driving her somewhere near insanity. The place she'd been to once, and never wanted to visit, ever again. She stared down at her bandaged foreharms; at least the nurses had been decent enough to let her keep her bandages where they were supposed to be. She'd dreaded the day when anyone would find out about that sickening habit of hers. Not even Hitaru knew; May-Lin had learned about it by a tragic mishap, and even so, the girl had, quite literally, taken her secret to the grave.

Fye stared blankly at the IV needly protruding from her left wrist. She hated needles, though she loved the comfort of the hospital. As opposed to many of her teamates who considered it a place to die and be rid of mortal injuries, Fye thought of it as a place to relax and just let things roll in front of you. She was the last person in the world to appreciate having everyone, or anyone, care for her, but even she had to admit that there was a certain appreciation amongst everyone, the nurses for the patients, and the patients for the rest of the world. Even the wildest, she noted, found a certain serenity within this place of healing.

"It's time for you blood sample, Fye-san." the nurse spoke quietly, gently pircking the skin with yet another sterilised needle. Fye hated needles. More than she hated seeing friends die.

She had so little to lose, to begin with...

She tilted her head to the left, away from the window to her right, and stared at the placid, serene face. The girl had been there for days now, or so she'd been told. Anemic and diabetic; she'd collapsed during her recent mission and had been hospitalised ever since. Fy couldn,t help but feel a pang of sympathy for her. Though she envied her all the same. So many health complications, such an errily familiar lifestyle, so lonely all the time... Yet she became a kunoichi, and as of lately, Fye had discovered she was quite the woman when you took arms against her. The girl didn't seem too old either, which saddened the older woman some bit. She couldn't have been much older than Naruto and Kaili, either somwhere around sixteen or seventeen years old. She'd lived through so much for such a young age...

"That should be all for today, Kurokawa-san." the nurse said, ever so slowly retracting the needle from her porcelain skin. "Would you like something else?"

"That girl's name." she stated almost instantly, tearing her eyes away from the girl's face and staring at the nurse. "I want to know her name, please." she repeated a little more quietly, letting her eyes trail to her hands, in her lap.

"Oh, um... I-I don't know her name... B-but, I could go ask Sakura-san, if you'd like." The young nurse stuttered, and upon seeing the kunoichi nod slowly, ran off to get her pink-haired superior.

Fye sighed and let her head rest against the wall. The days were growing longer and longer, it seemed, confined between these sterile white walls. The sun was begining to set, but to her, it felt like it should already have let the moon take its place. The infernal heart monitor kept on beeping its normal, rythmic beep, reminding Fye that the girl a few feet away was still alive. It started to quicken after a while, though, and the woman slowly turned her headto her left.

Wide, steel blue eyes stared back at her, shamelessly displaying fear. Terror, even. Her breathing had considerably quickened, as though she was running for her life, and her hands were fidgetting more than they ever should have.

Just before the nurse appeared in the doorway, the girl seemed to choke a sob, and mouthed something that was either 'Who are you?' or 'Why are you here?' either way, this left the kunoichi perplexed.

"Her, senpai."

Fye seemed to snap out of her daze and stared at the nurse—she should really ask for her name—and Sakura. The pink haired young woman smiled softly, almost appearing saddened, and turned towards Fye.

"Her name's Miichie. She... doesn't have a registered last name, I'm sorry to say."

The elder kunoichi narrows her eyes at the resting girl and sighs. It seems to her she'll never really get to know this girl no matter how hard she tries; it's something she knows just by this situation. Call it intuition, instinct... that's what it was. But she knew something else. That girl, she just didn't be--

"Miichie, stop faking." Sakura snapped, apparently not caring if she sounded harsh and uncaring. « I know you're awake, you lazyass. »

Miichie cracked open an eye, and even with only one eye open, her glare was as intense as any other could ever be. She was visibly upset, probably not wanting to be interrupted in her attempt at slumber, or perhaps she thought she could get away with that odd sequence of events...

"I know that blood drop of Kurokawa-san's cheek is yours. It's too clear to be her own, and the IV hole is obnoxiously big." the pink haird woman stated, crossing her arms.

"I said hi." the girl croaked, closing that single opened and and laying as still as the dead. One would barely even be able to tell that she was still breathing.

"Look, I don't know how you did it back home but--"

"I don't have a home!"

The midnight-haired girl had, in a snap, jumped to her feet, on the hospital bed. It shook under the weight and suddenly movement, and the IV chord was swinging lightly. It was quite obvious that she wasn't quite normal, Fye thought bittersweetly, and stared.

"Lie. Down." Sakura growled, and stomped out of the room. The two of them were obviously on pretty bad terms, to put it lightly. The very looks they gave each other was dripping with sarcasm, loathing and pure, unadultered hatred and bloodlust.

The room was silent for the next few days, save from the constant, life-signlaing beep of the heart monitor.

Fye walked with her hands in her pockets, head to the ground. It was early, as it always was when she took her walks around the village, and had decided to stray to the fields that morning. And what wasn't her surprised to find an infuriated kunoichi carelessly throwing some guy into a tree. She spat an insult—or so Fye thought—and proceeded to walk away nonchalantly, as though nothing had happened.

She was wearing a grey, cloudish-grey tanktop with black shorts, bandages around her legs and wrists, and what seemed to be a crimson nagajuban. It fluttered behind her in the light breeze, revealing a few inches of her forearms and legs.

Miichie stoppe, a gust of wind passing through the small passageway between two trees. The turn her head, ever so slowly, and Fye winced. Her chakra flared, but that wasn't any chakra. It wasn't normal, far from it. It was something benign, sickening almost. Nothing like the jinchuuriki, nothing like Kisame, nothing like anything she'd felt before.

_Come_ the younger girl mouth, meters ahead, and Fye resumed walking—she didn't even remember stopping—and joined the kunoichi in barely a few seconds.

"Lost Girls. I heard you and two other women are taking care of that group." Miichie stated, her voice clearly sounding more assured and determined.

"...Hitaru Higakura, Yuuko Hishimoto and I take care of those girls, yes. Why?" the AnBU asked warily, still very much on her gurds around this girl. Even if Fye, herself, was strong—and knew it—this girl could easily rival her in what concerned being as scary as hell.

"I heard rumors that every girl in that group of yours is from a world parallel to this one." Miichie stated again, narrowing her eyes and casting a sideway glance at Fye. The latter nodded slowly, curiousy as to where this would lead, though very aware of the outcome.

"And you want to join them." Fye said, drawing her own conclusions and obviously hitting the nail on the head. Miichie stiffened and looked the other way.

"It's only obvious to those who know what they're looking at." Miichie said coldly, apparently feeling the need to explain to Fye why it was so apparent that she was from another world.

« You've clearly secluded yourself, you're blunt, you're an annoying bloodlusty brat... It's obvious to anyone who can put two and two together. » Fye said in a dark chuckled, unable to slip an insult or two while she had the chance, while Miichie would probably keep from killing her. Fye was her only tie to the Lost Girls after all, and looking for Yuuko and Hitaru would be hard at this time. Quite hard.

"...just tell me where it is."

* * *

Several months had passed since Miichie had originally met Fye Kurokawa, one of the three managers of the group called the Lost Girls. Hitaru seemed to be at the head of everything, Fye took care of training and anything involving the shinobi life, and Yuuko took care of the run-down hotel and anything that would involve household chores and motherly care.

"Oi, Mii-chan!"

Miichie turned around, that forever foreboding air still plaster on her face. It seemed that it really would last forever...

"What is it _now_, Erinne?" she shrugged, crossing her arms and closing her eyes in annoyance.

"I forgot to tell you, Uzumaki-san came by today! He wanted to... Mii-chan, are you all—Hey! Where the hell are you going?!"

Miichie blatantly ignored Erinne, running as fast as her frail, weak legs to take her. She didn't need to be told where to find Naruto; on evenings, and especially lately, he would always be found on top of his appartment complex, staring at the sky and waiting for the stars to show up.

Miichie had been assigned to keep the Kyuubi container on track for the past few weeks. Tsunade had ordered Kakashi to give the kunoichi this 'mission of particular importance' saying that « that damn depressive kid need to go out, get a life and get that moron to listen and stop getting frustrated for nothing! » She distinctively remembered the first time they met...

_"Oi, Kakashi-sense--"_

_Miichie stared at the blonde, nearly in disgust, her arms extended towards the wall that was now covered in a dozen needles, pinning poor Naruto to it from head to toe. She didn't need a good impression, never did and never will. She needed to show power, instill fear; she would be listened if she needed to train this brainless, short-fused moron._

_"WHAT THE HELL?!"_

_"Shut up, come with me. I'm training you." she spat, plucking the wires and IV needle off and out of her body, and proceeded to jump out the window, without so much as a warning to the nurses. Sakura would kill her later, that she knew._

_"K-Kakashi-senseiiii..."_

_"You're on your own for this one, Naruto."_

_And the poor jinchuuriki was left there, pinned to a wall, scared shitless of whatever TRAINING that girl had ever planned for him._

_"...what the hell?!"_

Miichie laughed lightly, barely audible in the wind, and distraughtly rubbed at her right arm. The training he'd suffered the days after that had really taken a toll on him. She remembered when he asked her to go out for lunch. But not as teacher-student. Really, just as friends. She had been utterly shocked that time, despite the fact that they'd already declared each toher friends the very night they'd met.

"...you sure took your time."

Miichie shrugged it off and sat down on the grass beside the perky blonde, and, just like that time long ago, hugged her knees, holding them against her chest.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about? You have the day off, you know..." Miichie asked, looking at the other side of the small, merchant-used dirt road lined with trees.

"About... About that time when you hacked your hair off..." Naruto said quietly, narrowing his eyes at the ground in front of his feet. He stood, leaning against the tree that provided them with much needed shade from the warm, agressive rays of the setting sun.

"And you thought I was going to kill myself?" Miichie laughed, not wasting a moment to get back at him for it. It was such a silly, stupid incident that time.

_The hospital was another bleak, meaningless experience. Another quarrel with Sakura, another lecture from Tsunade, another fight, lecture, fight lecture fightlecture... It all blends in together after a while of always having more of the same. Miichie had barely managed to make him home without just letting her drop in the streets out of exhaustion and lack of will to just stand up. So as soon as she'd closed the door to her appartment and reached the diningroom/kitchen table, she let herself fall to her knees._

_She was breathing heavily, finding that standing up really _was_ too hard all of a sudden, and the vague mention of having a low sugar level crossed her mind. Maybe she should've taken up Genma's offer for icecream or coffee. She sure as hell needed it._

_For a moment, a fleeting moment, Miichie thought about home. And then, right after, her thoughts skipped to Naruto. Why the hell was she thinking about him, of all people out there? Why not Kakashi? Or Hitaru, or Fye or Yuuko or Naiyomi or May-Lin?_

_May-Lin. Commited suicide several months ago._

_Miichie sighed and reached a hand up on the table after sitting there for what seemed to be hours. Her hand came in contact with the cool metal of the kunai she always left on the table. She smiled lightly, sadly, something like that. She forced herself to stand up, and whilst holding the kunai in her mouth, bunched her hair together in a mock ponytail, leaving her bangs hanging each side of her face._

_Hlding her hair with one hand, she took the kunai and slowly brought it to her hair, and cut it off with and even slower sawing motion._

_At that moment, the door flung open, and before she knew it, Miichie's back hit the cold wood of the floor and stared at her left, where her kunai now lay, only nere feet away. She hair still fell around her, as the sudden motion of being flung to the ground had caused it to fly all over the place. Everything felt like it was so slow; the strands of hair falling, the kunai spinning to a stop, the breath on her cheek..._

_Wait what?_

_"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"_

_Miichie turned her head towards the voice, the familiar voice, and blinked several times befor efully comprehending the situation._

_"Why would you want to... I thought you were okay." Naruto whispered, narrowing his eyes._

_Oh._

_So he thought she was... trying to commit suicide? That thought nearly made her gag, and the thought of how resentful she'd been towards the passed Lost Girl fluttered into her mind for a moment. But then, she noticed something she would've been better off not noticing at all._

_The proximity of the two of them._

_Oh how wrong that would've looked if someone walked in right then._

_"I wasn't killing myself, I was cutting my hair." Miichie explained cooly, slightly tugging at her wrists to tell the blonde to let go._

_Naruto, in turn, blinked a few times, before muttering something and very quickly pushing himself away. Both had slightly flushed cheeks, though Naruto seemed, by far, more self-conscious than Miichie. But as soon as that nervous air had appeared, he frowned, and looked towards the younger kunoichi, who was still srpawled on the floor._

_"Why were you cutting your hair anyways?"_

_Miichie jolted up, eyes wide and cheeks flushed more than they should've been. She couldn't really just say _'Because you seem to like girls with short hair.'_, could she? Not to mention that she didn't really believe—or want to believe in fact—that was even true._

_"I—I, that's none of your business, twerp!"_

_"...It looks nicer short."_

_"Shut up, you stupid kid."_

_"Who're you calling a kid, you shirmp?"_

_"SHRIMP?!"_

_Oh shit._

"Yeah, that time." Naruto laughed lightly, putting his hands behind his head and looking off at the sky. "You never gave me a straight answer. Why you did it."

Miichie sat there for a while, trying to piece together her answer. She knew he'd eventually ask again... But she'd procrastinated so much on finding a plausible answer that now she was stuck with improvising. And she sucked at improvising ANSWERS. She would stutter and fidget and she was so easy to read.

"It's stupid. You don't want to know." She finally replied after a long moment of silence, crossing her arms and looking away.

Naruto's spirits fell—more like plumetted—when she crossed her arms. That was never a good sign, when she acted like this. He could clearly tell she'd put the mask back in place, or at least, whatever was left of it, and it would always take him a few days to take it back off again.

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad."

He was crouching in front of her.

Pretty much _in her face_.

"Yes. It is. Gitoff." she snarled, referring to the fact that he'd now chosen to just _sit_ on her legs.

"No. Not until you tell me why you bothered hacking your hair off." Naruto said, crossing his arms. And damn, Miichie recognised that gleam in his eye. He really wasn't going to give up.

"Fine, stay there. I'm not saying anything."

Naruto slammed his hands on either side of her head—and she winced at this—little bits of bark flying here and there. Shit. She was in very. Very. Deep. Crap.

"Quit hiding stuff from me, dammit!" Naruto growled, srewing his eyes shut and letting his head lean forward.

Miichie sighed, barely though, not loud enough to him to hear, and reach up to his head. Naruto didn't move; he was letting her do whatever she wanted. Which was, at the moment, taking his forehead protector off. She smiled lightly to herself, punching it up and putting it beside her.

Naruto brought his head back up—_was he this close five fucking seconds ago?_—and stared into her eyes. She could've sworn she saw a flickering light, gold-like.

"Why'd you..?"

"You look cuter without it." Miichie stated, tilting her head to the side. She waited a moment, and stuck her tongue out. "That feeling you had just now? That little thought? That's why I cut my hair." she stated, poking the blonde's nose. "Now get off me."

Naruto'd hung his head again. Miichie narrowed her eyes and frowned; this was not what she expected. She was expecting that same innocent laughter, the silly little gimmicks and _regaining the use of her legs_. But this... Oh, this wasn't giving her any good impressions. She didn't like where this was going at all.

"Naruto, are you..?"

"You did it for me?"

Miichie stayed there, mouth half opened, though she closed it soon enough to bite her lower lip. Oh damn.

"Naruto, get off me. Please."

"Why did you..?"

"Naruto, pease..!"

She was gripping at her forearms now.

There was a reason she had bandages on them, you know.

"What made you think..."

She clawed harder.

She could feel those old scars opening again, and not just on her arms.

"That I didn't..."

His hand tore hers away rfom her arm—when the hell did he bring his arm down in the first fucking place?!

"...like you just the way you were?"

Naruto let his forehead rest again hers.

Too close, too close.

Scars, blood, God, _it's too much!_

She sobbed.

Cried.

_Cradlle _my_ head in _your_ hands._

A brush of lips.

Soft, so... gentle.

Like moth wings.

"You annoying twerp."

"You conceited shrimp."


End file.
